User Attitudes Towards Wheelchairs: A Mexican Case Study with Special Focus on Vulnerable Wheelchair Users and Wheelchair Assistants

摘要

In Mexico, wheelchair users face discrimination and attacks on their dignity. To improve this situation, products that consider the needs of the whole population, while highlighting those of vulnerable groups, need to be developed. Nevertheless, little efforts have been made to acknowledge how vulnerable Mexican users and wheelchair assistants perceive this device. Hence, this research aims at gathering a deeper understanding of how the latter users feel towards current wheelchairs and where they perceive areas of opportunity. Semi-structured interviews were made to retrieve information about variables like wheelchair characteristics' prioritization, pain-points and wearing. Some of the most relevant results include the need to implement elements that consider natural body functions like sweating, and the misfit of wheelchair-user dimensioning. With these study's findings and by considering vulnerable groups, we aspire to provide insights for wheelchair design, that if satisfied, could help to create more inclusive devices and thus, more inclusive environments.